Pima County Sheriff's Department

On August 17, at approximately 10:31 a.m., Rincon District deputies, assigned to Mount Lemmon, responded to a shots fired call on Ski Valley Road near the ski lift. Prior to arriving they received information that a bicyclist, who was riding in the area, reported a man was shooting a gun near the ski lift and telling people to leave that area. When deputies arrived, they were unable to locate anyone in the area fitting the description of the man. They were unsuccessful in reaching the reportee to get any additional information.

While still searching the area, deputies received a new call of a possible suicidal subject whose family believed he was in the Bear Wallow Campground. Deputies respond to the campground and found the male subject. The subject’s family, who were on-scene, told deputies the subject was suicidal and when they arrived they had taken a gun away from him. Deputies detained the subject believing that he was the suspect from the shots fired call.

Deputies located the reportee from the original call and were able to get more information. According to the reportee, he was riding in the area of the ski lift headed toward the top of Mt. Lemmon when he saw the subject. As he was riding his bicycle on Ski Valley Road, the subject told him to turn around and leave the area. He saw the subject holding a gun, but decided to continue on and pass the subject. After riding a short distance away, the bicyclist heard shots being fired. The bicyclist was unable to determine what direction the man was shooting due to the fact that he was riding away from him. The bicyclist reported the incident to 9-1-1, using another person’s phone, and continued riding up to the top of the mountain. The bicyclist was able to confirm that the detained subject was the same person he saw holding a gun.

The suspect was ultimately transported to a local medical facility. Based on the facts of the investigation it does not appear that the suspect was targeting bicyclists. This investigation is ongoing.